Henry Hornblower
Henry Hornblower (June 8, 1863 – April 1, 1941) was a prominent American investment banker and founder of the firm of Hornblower & Weeks.
Henry Hornblower | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 8, 1863 Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | April 1, 1941 (aged 77) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, banker |
| Spouse | Harriet Frances Wood (m. 1886) |
| Parent(s) | Edward Thomas Hornblower Martha Boyd Whiting |
Early life edit
Hornblower was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on June 8, 1863. He was a son of Edward Thomas (1828–1901) and Martha Boyd (née Whiting) Hornblower (1824–1873). He came from a distinguished family. Reportedly, "the name of 'Hornblower' is one of the features of Boston and the old Bay State. It is a name that has flourished through generations... The line of Hornblowers in Boston and New England has been an honorable one as far back as family prestige can be traced."[1]
He graduated from the Cotting High School of Arlington, Massachusetts in 1878.
Career edit
In 1879,[2] Hornblower started his career by entering his father's financial business, Hornblower and Page.[3]
In 1888, Henry Hornblower and John W. Weeks (later U.S. Secretary of War under Warren G. Harding) formed a partnership which in time became a financial power in this part of the country.[4] Hornblower was a member of the governing committee of the Boston Stock Exchange and its president in 1911-1912. Among the corporations of which he was a director were the First National Corporation, the First National Bank of Boston, the Hoosac Mills, the New England Power Association, the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, and the Boston Five Cents Savings Bank. He remained active in some of these after his retirement from the firm of Hornblower & Weeks in 1936.[5]
Personal life edit
On May 12, 1886, Hornblower married Harriet Frances "Hattie" Wood (1864–1955) of Arlington, where they lived for thirty-six years. In 1922, they moved to 89 Mt. Vernon Street in Boston. Together, they were the parents of:[6]
- Ruth Hornblower (1887–1970), who married Robert Wrisley Atkins (1889–1948) in 1910. They divorced in 1927 and she married Chester Noyes Greenough (1874–1938) in 1931.[7] After his death, she married Lawrence Whitfield Churchill (1885–1959) in 1953.
- Helen Hornblower (1889–1986), who married Alfred Reuben Meyer (1888–1962).
- Ralph Hornblower (1891–1960),[8] who married Eleanor Greenwood (1896–1983).[9]
Hornblower was a member of the Algonquin Club, Exchange Club, Union Club, and Boston City Club, of the Boston Art Club, and of the Brookline Country Club.[2] Amateur athletics attracted him and led him to serve as treasurer of the New England Olympic Club in 1912. Unostentatiously he supported good causes such as the North American Civic League for Immigrants, of which he was a trustee.[5]
He died of a heart attack, after a round of golf with friend Donald Ross,[2] at Pinehurst, North Carolina on April 11, 1941.[3]
His grandson, Henry Hornblower II, founded Plimoth Plantation, the living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1947.[10]
References edit
- ^ Copper Curb & Mining Outlook Vol. 9, #1, September 27, 1911, p.14-15
- ^ a b c "RETIRED HEAD OF FIRM DIES AT PINEHURST | Henry Hornblower, 77, Passes After Round of Golf". Democrat and Chronicle. April 13, 1941. p. 8. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ a b "HENRY HORNBLOWER, NOTED RETIRED STOCK BROKER, IS DEAD. Former Head of Exchange Firm Dies Suddenly in N. Carolina". Press and Sun-Bulletin. April 12, 1941. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ "Hornblower & Weeks, Boston". The Bankers Magazine. 77. Bradford-Rhodes & Company: 441–448. 1908. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ a b "Henry Hornblower-American Antiquarian Society" (PDF). Americanantiquarian.org. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
- ^ "Henry Hornblower, Ex-Stock Broker | Headed Wall St. House--Was Active 56 Years". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 13, 1941. p. 11. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ "C. N. GREENOUGH, 64, EX-HARVARD DEAN; College Officer, 1921-27, Long a Professor of English-Dies at His Home in Belmont A LITERATURE AUTHORITY The First Master of Dunster House Known to Thousands of Alumni--Also Author Had Taught at Illinois Collaborated on Textbook". The New York Times. 28 February 1938. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ "Ralph Hornblower". The Evening Sun. 19 Sep 1960. p. 4. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ "ELEANOR HORNBLOWER (GREENWOOD)". The Palm Beach Post. 16 Dec 1983. p. 53. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ Smith-Johnson, Robin (2018). Cape Cod Curiosities: Jeremiah's Gutter, the Historian Who Flew as Santa, Pukwudgies and More. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 31–32. ISBN 9781439664230. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
External links edit
- Henry Hornblower at Find a Grave